A place to (re)fresh, (re)purpose and find some (re)tail

Tag Archives: upcycle

I don’t know how many tired, dirty saggy chairs I have passed up while thrift shopping for my projects. Over and over I walk-on-by because somehow I had the impression that upholstery is an expensive hobby. Perhaps it is all the tapes, nails and underlays that I see at the upholstery store – or the $50.00/yard price tag on some of the fabrics I drool over.

This project is proof that with a little creativity, a lot of staple pulling and some clever shopping – a dusty old thrift store find can become the golden girl in your room.

Before you begin, grab a notepad or even your camera and document how you take the chair apart. You’ll be glad you did, trust me!

There is no need to break a sweat sanding every surface – just smooth out any chips, then paint with a can of your favorite spray paint. I got started with some heavy sanding first, then decided that it really wasn’t necessary.

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Money saving tip #1: Use as much of the original foam as possible. We added a thin foam underlay and a thick quilt batting to the top of the original yellow foam. A few whip stitches keeps it all together. Or if your foam isn’t reusable, find a camping foam or foam baby mattress to upcycle

Years ago, we picked up a second hand bookshelf for my son’s room. It was to be a rough and tumble catch-all for his collections of model cars, magazines and the occasional forgotten empty dish. It was not a prized piece – particularly after a pen leaked all over the top. It looked so much like a grumpy old monster – it just needed some eyes…and an encouraging thumbs up

Now that my son is grown, this poor shelf has become the unwanted eye-sore in every room I’ve tried to place it (read: none of the rest of the family wanted it either). So, it ended up in my room…and was crying to be redone.

Now the monster is a princess – all the sanding, trimming, painting and aging has paid off – and this might just be worth hanging on to for a while longer.